Sales Lead Follow Up System Audit

STOP! Important Reasons NOT to Get This Audit

I'll be honest. You're not going to like what I uncover. Here's the thing, you probably kind of know it already - it's like stepping on the scale on Jan 1. We know it is probably unwelcome news, but we can't begin to change without knowing. So it may make you angry, frustrated, disgusted. But we'll get it out of the way and move on to fixing things.

It's also going to start to peel back other layers of your revenue growth onion. Is your strategy sound, clear and properly focused? Can your marketing team actually drive qualified lead gen and support your sales team. Are your sales people capable of prospecting and nurturing leads in today's markets? And does your tech stack support the process for everyone? We will likely uncover some larger challenges. You might prefer to remain blissfully ignorant.

Your marketing and sales teams are likely going to get defensive. Maybe they're slacking. Maybe they're doing everything they think they should. The reality is you're investing in leads that may not be optimal and likely aren't being fully activated. There are balls being dropped, and nobody likes being called out.

And I've got a selfish interest. If that's going to offend you, then stop now. The reality is that through this audit we'll discover other opportunities for us to work together. Is that "land and expand" or up/cross sell? Yes it is. And I will quantify for you the value of anything I recommend. Not sneaky bait and switch, but I'm also going to be honest about other areas of potential improvement and how I can help.

Benefits of a Lead Follow Up System Audit

If you've got the guts, though, there's enormous value to this sales lead follow up system audit.

First, you're spending money on leads. You need to wring every possible dollar of profitable revenue out of that investment. That's the first and most important objective.

I find that most industrial companies only follow up on about 30% of sales leads. If we double that, with incremental improvement in that follow-up process, we'll more than double your revenue from your lead generation. This audit ($7,300 since you're probably wondering) pays for itself just on your last trade show alone.

But the audit has a number of other valuable benefits:

• Leads are a perfect microcosm of every company's revenue growth systems. You'll get deep insight into the interrelated aspects of marketing and sales in today's digital world with large buying teams and extended buying journeys
• Sales math - we'll determine what lead activity is necessary to hit your revenue, new customer, product line, and channel goals
• We'll identify inefficiencies in your marketing and sales activities - places to reduce cost, improve performance, or both
• The audit will highlight aspects of your revenue growth process that need definition and standards (places where process engineering, continuous improvement, measurement KPIs, accountability) will improve performance - from standard language/definitions, through sales follow up process, and dashboards/reporting
• You'll develop new empathy for your prospects as the audit takes us through the process from their perspective (vs. your internal departments and process) and you'll understand where friction costs you opportunity
• We'll create a basis for a culture of accountability - the company to buyers, leadership to marketing and sales, marketing to buyers, sales and th company, and sales to buyers, marketing and the company
• You'll be armed with empirical data to make decisions regarding lead investments - what's worth it, what's not, and what is marginal. You'll invest where the return justifies it and stop "spending" based on gut feeling
• Finally we'll apply the systems engineering mindset that makes your operations run smoothly onto revenue growth

How the Lead Audit Works

The audit has four main phases:

1. We'll meet for up to two hours to talk qualitatively about revenue growth, marketing, sales, lead generation and results. This will help me understand your mindset, the culture, your specific objectives, and where I can focus efforts to help achieve the biggest, rapid return.
2. Secret shopper - I'll pose as a lead and document every aspect of how your team actually follows up (or doesn't 😬.) Later we'll compare this to what's reported in your CRM, sales pipeline, etc. Sometimes my assistant can simultaneously capture another set of data points.
3. I'll conduct analysis based on data you provide and my observations in your CRM & marketing automation. This will include:
   • quantitative
     • two years of lead generation analysis
       • sources, costs (per lead, sales qualified lead, qualified deal, closed/won deal, $1K of revenue) and average sales cycle
       • total spend and relative returns / comparison of lead sources
     • metrics you're tracking
   • qualitative
     • your definitions and language
     • review of the follow up process (steps, language, sales skill, channels, etc.)
     • review of the buyer experience
     • technology implementation
4. Report the results out to you (then you decide if we include your team, and what we share)
   • research findings
   • recommended changes in process, technology, and possibly people (from the lead generation, lead management and lead follow up perspectives)
   • lead source optimization recommendations

Time Frame

Generally, we can start within a week (you pay and schedule our first meeting) and I provide a list of information and platforms for which I need access.

Assuming I receive the information and platform access with a week, the audit will be complete within about four weeks, subject to when we can schedule our debrief meeting.

You'll have actionable information in hand in about a month - while there's still time to optimize for some of your open leads.

An Investment in Your Ongoing Revenue

This is a small investment that will yield large benefits for coming months, quarters and years.

Just a couple leads that have been overlooked and are properly pursued will more than pay for the audit.

Let's get started today.